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SSHS Student Council hopes to help
former classmate '...run the Iditerod'

Jim Gallea on the course in the Junior Iditerod race in
Alaska. He's run that race twice, and now is setting sights on
being the youngest to run the 1,162-mile Iditerod and will set
several records in the process.

Seeley Swan Pathfinder
November 26, 1998

(Editor's note: the Seeley-Swan High School Student
Council has undertaken a project to help Jim Gallea (class of
98) with costs of racing in the Alaska Iditerod, the over 1,000-mile
sled dog race. The council has put together the following information,
with details at the bottom of the story on how you may help out.)

Jim Gallea is an 18 year old dog musher from Seeley Lake, Montana.
He was raised around sled dogs from the time he was a young boy
living in northern Minnesota. Jim watched and helped his parents
run many races in Minnesota, Montana, Idaho, and Alaska; and got
interested in racing on his own at the age of 12.

Jim's first race was a sprint race at the 1993 Holland Lake
Races. The only other competitor in that particular race was his
father, Bill. Jim took second by only a few minutes. The following
year, he set records for being the youngest ever competitor in
the 80-mile Holland Lake Race and the 70-mile American Dog Derby.

In 1995, he again ran the Holland Lake Race. That year, he
set yet another age record by being the youngest competitor to
run in the Seeley Lake 100. Since then, Jim has run the Seeley
Lake 100 a total of four times, always finishing ahead of teams
driven by older and more experienced drivers.

In 1997, he set a record of a new kind by being the first Montanan
to compete in the Junior Iditarod, a 160-mile race in Alaska,
being only the third person from the Lower 48 to compete in that
race. He ran the Junior Iditarod again in 1998.

In addition to setting records for being the youngest musher
in several races, Jim has also received many awards from the races
that he has run. He was given the "Most Promising Rookie"
award after completing the 1995 Holland Lake Race. He received
the "Best Cared for Team Award" in the 1996 Seeley Lake
100 for excellence in dog care. In 1997, he received the Junior
Iditarod "Sportsmanship Award." And in the 1998 Junior
Iditarod, he was given the "Humanitarian Award," an
award given to the musher who demonstrates the best care for his
dogs in the race

Now, Jim has set his sights on another race - the 1,161-mile
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. He will once again set an age record:
he will be the youngest musher from the Lower 48 to run the Iditarod,
the "Last Great Race on Earth."

Jim began to think about running the Iditarod when his father
ran the 1996 Iditarod. After running two Junior Iditarods and
watching his mom finish her first Iditarod in 1998, he knew that
he wanted to run the race to keep up with the family tradition.
Jim and his parents, Bill and Cindy, will be the only family (both
parents and a child) to have run the Iditarod.

The Iditarod is, to put it mildly, a grueling event, where
a person puts himself or herself against dangerous trails, extreme
winter conditions, fierce storms, and worst of all, sleep depravation.
Some mushers have gotten as few as 12 hours of sleep during the
entire race!

The race is a total of 1,161 miles long and runs from Anchorage
to Nome. It takes as little as nine days or as many as 20 days
to complete. It is totally unassisted. Mushers ship food and supplies
ahead of time to checkpoints. At those checkpoints, mushers must
care for and feed their dogs and themselves on their own. A musher
must be completely self-reliant.

Why do such a thing? Says Jim, "I see the Iditarod as
a challenge, a chance to put myself and a team of incredible athletes
to the test. It's also a chance to learn about myself and explore
aspects of life that some people will never have the privilege
to encounter. It is a chance to really know what it is to be alive."

To become the youngest musher from the Lower 48 to run the
Iditarod, Jim will be running dogs from the kennel of Iditarod
musher Mitch Seavey. Mitch is a five-time Iditarod finisher who
has finished in the top twenty the past four years in a row. He
took fourth in the 1998 Iditarod.

Like many of the top mushers, Mitch sends his yearling dogs
(dogs between a year and two years old) on the Iditarod with another
musher. That musher begins to train the team nearly six months
before the actual race start. Once in the race, the driver of
the "puppy team" must take excellent care of the dogs
and make the race as fun as possible for the dogs. The goal is
to give the team experience so they know how to run the race when
they start to run with Mitch in the following years. The driver
of the puppy team this year will be Jim Gallea. He plans to train
a team that has the potential to win the Iditarod within a few
years.

Running the Iditarod takes more than a good dog team and a
courageous driver. It also takes a fair amount of money and equipment.
Because Jim is running a yearling team for Mitch, many of the
training, feeding, and racing expenses are covered. However, he
still needs to provide all of his own personal gear, clothing,
food, and racing expenses.

Below is a list of some of the things that he will need to
be able to successfully complete the Last Great Race on Earth:
expedition class winter clothing; arctic-weight sleeping bag;
lights and batteries for night running; race entry fees; 15 days
of food; miscellaneous personal supplies; and survival gear.

How You Can Help

Gold Sponsor- $500. You receive your logo on Jim's parka
and sled; a large ad on Jim's personal website; your name as Jim's
sponsor on Iditarod race information; a collared team shirt; a
framed picture of Jim and his dogs; a subscription to Jim's newsletter
(two issues); and a personal appearance and presentation at your
business or home.

Silver Sponsor - $300. You receive your logo on Jim's
sled; a small ad on Jim's personal website; your name as Jim's
sponsor on Iditarod race information; a team T-shirt; a framed
picture of Jim and his dogs; and a subscription to Jim's newsletter
(two issues).

Bronze Sponsor - $200. You receive your logo on Jim's
sled bag; your name on Jim's personal website; your name as Jim's
sponsor on Iditarod race information; a team hat; a framed picture
of Jim and his dogs; and a subscription to Jim's newsletter (two
issues).

Booster Club - $25. You receive a team button and a
signed picture of Jim and his dogs.

Checks may be made payable to Seeley-Swan High School, P.O.
Box 416, Seeley Lake, MT 59868.

Student Council faculty advisor Dennis Schneiter said the cost
of running in the Iditarod is between $18,000 and $22,000. The
Student Council hopes to raise $3,500 to held Gallea with the
costs.